NBA Picks for Monday, January 19: Three Best Bets for MLK Day Slate

The Monday card in the NBA features nine games with an Eastern Conference headliner in Detroit.

The Pistons (30-10) welcome the Celtics (26-15) as Detroit seeks its third win over Boston this season.

We’ll break down three plays for the Monday action. Remember to monitor the odds throughout the day, as the sides and totals market is constantly changing.

Here are the free NBA picks for Monday, January 19.

Best NBA plays today — Odds Courtesy of DraftKings

• Wizards (+6.5) vs. Clippers
• Knicks (-10) vs. Mavericks
• Pacers (+7.5) at 76ers

Wizards (+6.5) vs. Clippers — 3:00 p.m. ET

The Wizards return home from an 0-4 trip out west, which included a 119-105 defeat to the Clippers last Wednesday.

The teams meet in D.C. this afternoon as Washington tries to end a six-game slide, although the Wizards covered as 11-point underdogs in Saturday’s loss at Denver. Washington has covered numbers at home recently, posting a 6-3 against the spread mark the last nine tries.

The Clippers continue their three-game road trip after outlasting the Raptors in overtime on Friday, 121-117 to grab their fifth straight victory. L.A. will be without leading scorer Kawhi Leonard for at least a week, as he deals with knee soreness. Let’s look for the Wizards to take advantage here as a home underdog.

Knicks (-10) vs. Mavericks — 5:00 p.m. ET

Both team’s star players are questionable headed into this matchup at Madison Square Garden. Knicks G Jalen Brunson is dealing with a sprained ankle suffered last Wednesday in a loss at Sacramento, while Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg is also trying to overcome an ankle injury.

New York has covered the spread in two of the last 12 games, while dropping three in a row. Meanwhile, Dallas heads to the Big Apple off consecutive blowouts of Utah, averaging 141 points in those two wins.

The Mavs are already without F Anthony Davis and have lost nine of their last 10 road games. New York won at Dallas, 113-111 in mid-November as 8.5-point road favorites, but judging by this line, look for the Knicks to blow out the Mavericks.

Pacers (+7.5) at 76ers — 7:00 p.m. ET

The Pacers are coming off an embarrassing 121-78 loss at Detroit on Saturday as Indiana’s top four scorers didn’t suit up.

Indiana travels to Philadelphia tonight, facing a 76ers squad that is off back-to-back home defeats to Cleveland.

The Sixers have lost three of four games since a 5-1 stretch, as Philadelphia is on the front-end of a back-to-back with Phoenix coming to town tomorrow. C Joel Embiid is questionable for tonight and we’ll see if he sits here in favor of suiting up against the Suns on Tuesday.

Indiana owns a solid 7-4 ATS mark the last 11 games, including covers against Miami, Boston, Cleveland, and Houston. Philadelphia defeated Indiana earlier this season, 115-106, as the Sixers knocked down 33 free throws in that victory. In the last 16 games, the 76ers have hit more than 30 free throws once.